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New
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Cause
of getting entirely buried
People
used to believe that while being carried away by an avalanche, people
would first get immersed under several meters of snow, but, buoyed by
balloon systems, rise back to the surface. More recent studies, however,
show that flowing avalanches are, on average, not several meters, but
rather only 40-50 cm deep.
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As is
generally known, in flowing avalanches avalanche victims remain at the
surface all by themselves from the point where they are swept away by the
avalanche to the point where they disappear in the snow. The location
where they are buried entirely is usually the accumulation area of the
avalanche where the huge amounts of snow eventually pile up.
If
only small amounts of snow flow into the accumulation area after the
person has come to rest,
then
there is a good chance of getting buried only partly or not
at all. If the person is already buried entirely, incidentally visible
clues, e.g. ABS, the airbag or the
AVALANCHE BALL,
permit locating the victim's position visually.
However, if bigger amounts of snow flow into the accumulation area after
the person has come to rest,
then
there exists the danger that balloon systems directly bound
to the body (such as ABS Airbag, Snowpulse) may get partly or even
entirely buried, together with the victim (as seen from the result of
avalanche testing and several real-life cases). The
AVALANCHE BALL,
however, acts differently.
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The
benefits of flexibility
The
AVALANCHE BALL
is not
connected directly to the body, but linked to the person via a flexible
rope cord (of 6m length). Since the cord does not offer any area of attack
and the
AVALANCHE BALL
is of an
extremely light-weight design (500g), the amounts of snow that continue to
flow after the person has come to rest will push the ball upwards.
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Therefore,
the
AVALANCHE BALL
is able to
avoid the amounts of snow that continue to flow after the person has come
to rest and remains visible at the surface longer than any balloon system
fixed to one's body or backpack (see previous avalanche tests and
real-life cases).
Conclusion:
It cannot
be prevented that a person is buried entirely by masses of snow that
continue to pile up after the person has come to rest. Therefore, victims
who remain »visible« the longest will have the best odds of survival.
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